Welcome to my blog!

Here you’ll find progress on current books, behind-the-scenes insight and story inspiration, as well peeks at my life on rural, (usually) rainy East Hawaii Island.

The Blog Menu Dropdown highlights three categories, Hawaii Life (pretty self-explanatory), Stories I Love (also pretty self-explanatory, but includes books, movies, and TV), and Magpie Moments (bits I snatched from real life and incorporated, magpie-like, into my fiction).

Interested in something else? You can also Search for something specific—the little icon is at the end of the header—or just dive in and start scrolling.

 

 

When I’m Not Writing… A Pack Update

Check it out—me reviewing the Braving the Boneyard paperback proof at the beach recently. Yes, that is what passes for a beach in East Hawaii: a handful of black sand over hard lava rock, with a smattering of ironwood needles. (Which is why I didn’t stay there very long, lying on my thin pirate towel.) That means, barring anything crazy, you should be able to purchase the paperback from Amazon sometime next week. In the meantime, you can get a better look at the full cover on my Boneyard Pinterest Board. Careful readers will notice that we (my cover designer Read more…


The Brain Tickle That Became the Latest Sydney Brennan Novel, Braving the Boneyard

It’s alive! Sometimes the darkest secrets just won’t stay hidden, no matter how deeply they’re buried. Tallahassee PI Sydney Brennan is torn between loyalty to her mentor and duty to her client—facing life in prison—when her investigation uncovers a long-buried secret that someone is willing to kill for. How far will Sydney go to protect her friend’s past, and his life? You’ll find links to retailers (ebook and paperback) here, along with the first two chapters. How about bonus materials, like deleted scenes? You’ll find extras for Braving the Boneyard, and the rest of the Sydney Brennan books, here. (Note: this is Read more…


Paperback Possession, Brownie Exorcisms, and a Mini Magpie Moment

Good news—Braving the Boneyard is available for preorder at Kobo! The ebook will be popping up everywhere else (Amazon, iBooks, Nook, etc.) on release day: May 19, 2016. Kobo’s process was so easy, and much more flexible about how far out you could post, so I figured… why not? Next book, I’ll try to hit them all. The paperback, on the other hand, has been my cross. My albatross (except I really like seabirds). Last week, I thought I’d finished the template for my cover designer, but there were some pdf issues, and I had to start over. Then there were even Read more…


Suffering for our Art: the Dreaded Bleeding Eyes (Formatting) Syndrome

This week’s blog post will be brief because I’m bleeding out my eyes and I forgot to put the keyboard protector on my laptop. Bleeding out my eyes, people! Not really—bleeding would imply there’s some kind of fluid left in my ocular organs. No, the damage isn’t from watching coverage of the vitriolic presidential primaries. Instead, I’ve been formatting my brains out. I should start with the good news. My copy editor finished her final pass this week, so everything remains on schedule for the May 19, 2016, release of Braving the Boneyard. Woo hoo! But that means I suddenly Read more…


Braving the Boneyard Winners, and a Gridiron Magpie Moment

Congratulations to Sam, Marina, Glenda, Pat, and Christine! (Surname initials just looked too weird.) They’ll be getting free ebooks of Braving the Boneyard when it’s released on May 19, 2016. I’ll have more news about Boneyard’s release next week, but in the meantime, I thought we’re due for a Magpie Moment (bits of real life, incorporated into Sydney’s adventures), the first one for Braving the Boneyard. I’ve been reading In Pursuit of Spenser: Mystery Writers on Robert B. Parker and the Creation of an American Hero, edited by Otto Penzler (although auto-correct keeps insisting his name should be Penciler). If you’re Read more…